


10 Seconds, 10 Years

by MariahLacey42



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Does anyone else ship this?, Fluff, Fluffy, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, Love Story, M/M, Marriage Proposal, No Spoilers, Probably ooc, but I do my own timeskip, but its more hurt comfort than anything, guess I'll make my own content, they go to the same high school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-29 02:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30149268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MariahLacey42/pseuds/MariahLacey42
Summary: Goshiki reminisces on his encounters and relationship with Kunimi Akira, all at once.ORA series of vignettes about Kunimu and Goshiki becoming friends and falling in love
Relationships: Goshiki Tsutomu & Kunimi Akira, Goshiki Tsutomu/Kunimi Akira
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	10 Seconds, 10 Years

**Author's Note:**

> So, I have no real explanation for why I wrote this other than I used a prompt generator for the prompt "write a story that takes place within 10 seconds" and then got a random ship to write it about for my friend.
> 
> This is the first time that I've written proper romance, so let me know how it comes across, and I hope you enjoy this story for this criminally underrated ship.

I’ve heard of your “life flashing before your eyes,” but I assumed it was something that was exclusive to near-death experiences and cheesy romance movies. I assumed that there wouldn’t be anything much in my life worth reliving. But I hear something come out of Kunimi’s mouth (do I understand it? I’m not sure), and then everything happens at once. 

I see a pale boy with middle-parted hair plodding through the hallway, slouching, his steps looking heavy but making no sound on the tiled floor. He’s the opposite of me, with my light strides that always seem to thunder when I set my feet down, no matter how much I try to dampen them. I see a brief glimpse of his eyes from between the hair that’s falling in his face. They’re deep and dark yet filled with a depth that almost makes me gasp. Nothing in my life visibly changed that day, but I started to feel like it should. 

I’m back in the old gymnasium, wooden floors and squeaking shoes, passing the ball back and forth with him, trying to avoid those eyes that feel as though they see right through my bravado. He makes a deadpan quip and I drop the volleyball instead of bumping it back to him as I double over in laughter. I see the right corner of his mouth lift just a bit, so I don’t really begrudge the laps coach makes me run after he sees me ‘slacking’. And just like that, a tentative friendship branched the gap between us. 

I’m boasting in the hallway about growing 2 centimeters in the past 2 weeks, and I hear a soft huff from behind me. Kunimi insists it’s not a big deal. He steps closer to me and straightens his spine from his usual hunch. I look up at him. I’ve never seen him taller than me before, his poor posture hiding the fact that he’s towering compared to most students, just above average for the volleyball team. He’s only about a foot away from me and seems even closer, my heart rate rising as I realise he’s...intimidating. He may not put in the effort to appear so normally, but he is scary when he wants to be. My view of him changed that day, but our friendship didn’t.

I’m in a classroom after school, my muscles welcoming the cancelled practice while still restlessly carrying me across the campus in search of nothing in particular. The slanted orange rays bounce off wooden desks and forgotten pencils, the emptiness feeling soothing for a reason I can’t quite place. I see dark hair at a desk in the music room, a forlorn gaze, and a turned back. I don’t find out why he’s upset until a few days later when he confides that a family member was sick, but I do make my way to beside him and sit on the piano bench in silence until he grips my hand. I just wanted him to be okay, with a part of me that I wasn’t quite ready to acknowledge yet aching for the lanky boy.

I’m in my dorm room, my heaving breaths shaking the lofted bed frame and the single light attached to it, leaving my room bathed in an uncertain glow that moves back and forth with my shifting emotions. As energetic and confident as I seem, there are some days when criticism just hurts. When being told to improve feels like all I’ve worked for is in vain, when my whole body and mind crumbles at the idea of not being enough. Except for this time, silent steps lead themselves to my side and I feel a warmth that makes me collapse into his embrace. I know he’s choosy about physical affection, so I savor every second of his closeness. I find myself craving it when I’m sad more and more often. 

I’m watching him cross the stage, those same heavy-light footsteps holding just a bit more dignity as he grabs the proof of his successes. I grip my own diploma in my hand and wave at him. He just nods lightly at me and gives me that same cute lip raise. A half-smile, half-smirk that seems unreadable to others, but I know that he’s saying he’s proud of us. And I’m also half-asleep at the volleyball graduation party, looking up at him stroking my messy hair, and having realizations that really should have happened in our first year and not our third. 

We’re standing in the twilight of a pro game aftermath years after that party, the fans rushing past us as they leave, the two of us staring at each other through the flow. His eyes hold that same depth I loved, but a bit more seasoned. He stands at his full height, his slouch being left behind along with his adolescence, but I’ve grown a bit taller than him in the years we’ve been apart. I might tease him about it if I were less shocked by his presence. But then he approaches me, makes a passing remark about my hair still looking stupid, and then we’re twenty minutes away getting shaved ice like it’s high school all over again. And he voices what we were both thinking before giving me one of his coveted hugs. I missed them. I missed him.

We’re browsing shops, I loudly narrate my thought process while he reminds me that we’re in public and that I need to keep my volume down. He tries to pretend I didn’t catch him staring at a soft purple sweater in one of the store windows and I pretend that I suddenly really want to investigate that store. We pick out stupid outfits for one another and act like we’ll buy them when the store clerk asks. He’s the better liar, so it’s a lot of him saying things with a totally straight face while I nod along and try not to laugh. Then we sit on a shaded bench, tired and spent with only one small bag of nick-nacks to show for it, but I know that neither of us would change a thing. 

And I’m here, blinking at Kunimi as he kneels on the ground at sunset. I can see in his eyes, his beautiful eyes, that I’ve been reminiscing for too long. I choke out an affirmation, my heart blocking the paragraphs I want to say to him, and collapse down to his level, my shaking legs no longer letting me be taller. He caresses his hand against my cheek, brushing one of the tears that’s started to fall. I take his hand and kiss it, holding it close to me like it’s as precious to me as he is. Because of our own foolishness, it’s taken us 10 years to get to this point, crying in a park while our love is visible for anyone who wishes to look. It took me 10 seconds to relive it, all the ups and downs and late-night talks. I want this, this change we’ve stepped into, to last a lifetime. He lifts both corners of his mouth, and we begin something new. 

**Author's Note:**

> I love these two so much. Goshiki is so hard for me to capture in writing, but that hasn't stopped me! And Kunimi is just an interesting character and a great foil to Goshiki.
> 
> Let me know what you thought of the vignette format or the characterization! I always love feedback!
> 
> Thank you for reading and have a nice day!


End file.
